1000 Farmers in Peru grow sweet potatoes and corn
1000 Leif Ericson reaches North America
1100 Height of Chimu civilization at Chan Chan, on the northwest coast of Peru
1100 Anasazi people in North America build cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and the Canyon de Chelly
1100 Rise of Incas in Peru; they were farmers led by warrior chiefs
1100 Hohokam people of Arizona, North America, begin to build platform mounds
1150 End of Hopewell culture in North America
1170 Mexican Toltecs' capital at Tula overthrown by fierce Chichimec nomads by the northern desert
1180 Toltecs driven out of Chichen Itza
1190 End of first period in which flat-topped mounds were built as bases for temples in the Mississippi river area
1200 Cahokia in North America, city of temple mounds, at its height
1200 Incas in Peru centred around growing settlement of Cuzco
1200-1250 Complexes of apartment blocks and circular kivas built at Cliff Canyon and Fewkes Canyon, Colorado
1250 Chimu people expand their empire along northern coast of Peru
1250 Maya revival; following collapse of ChichÃn Itz, a new capital is built at Mayapan
1300 Incas begin to expand their empire throughout the central Andes
1325 Aztecs found city of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City) on an island in Lake Texcoco
1370 Acampitchtli chosen king of Aztecs
1390 Viracocha becomes eighth Inca ruler; an Inca myth tells how he travelled to the Pacific and never returned
1400 Pueblo people abandon northern sites and gather in large towns
1400 Expansion of Aztec empire in Mexico
1400 Inca empire enters period of expansion
1426-1440 Aztecs at Tenochtitlan form âTriple AllianceÂ¾ with neighbouring cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan; emperor Itzcoatl reorganizes state to concentrate power in his hands
1438 Inca emperor Viracocha dies; his successor Pachacuti expands Inca empire north to Ecuador
1440 Incas build great fortress at Cuzco
1440-1468 Reign of Aztec emperor Moctezuma I; he and his warriors conquer large areas of eastern Mexico, taking many people prisoner
1450 Inca city of Machu Picchu built on high ridge above Urubamba river in Peru
1455 Huge temple built to Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli in Tenochtitlan
1470 Collapse of Chimu culture in northern Peru
1471-1493 Emperor Topa Inca expands Inca empire into Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina
1473 Tenochtitlan absorbs neighbouring Aztec city, Tlatelolco
1486-1502 Rule of Aztec emperor Ahuitzotl; Aztec empire at height of power in Mexico
1500 French exploration in Canada begins
1502-1504 Columbus's fourth voyage; he reaches Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia
1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Spanish explorer, first sights the Pacific Ocean
1519-1521 Hernando Cort's, Spanish soldier-explorer, brings down the Aztec empire in Mexico
1532-1533 Francisco Pizarro, Spanish soldier, invades and destroys Inca empire in Peru
1534 French explorer, Jacques Cartier, makes first expedition to settle in Canada
1540 Spanish arrive in California
1576 Martin Frobisher, English explorer, sets out to find a northwest passage to China; he reaches the Canadian coast, and Frobisher Bay is named after him
1584 Sir Walter Raleigh sends an exploring party to Virginia in North America, followed a year later by a colonizing expedition, which fails
1607 Jamestown Colony, first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in Virginia
1608 Quebec in Canada founded by French settlers
1610 Hudson Bay explored by Henry Hudson
1620 Pilgrim Fathers sail to America in the Mayflower
1625 French settlements in the Caribbean (St Christopher) begin
1626 Dutch found New Amsterdam in North America
1629 Massachusetts founded
1638 First printing press reaches America
1642 Montreal, Canada, founded
1646 The Bahamas colonized by the English
1655 English capture Jamaica from the Spanish
1664 English capture New Amsterdam from the Dutch; it is renamed New York
1679 Father Hennepin reaches Niagara Falls in Canada
1681 Territory granted in North America to English Quaker William Penn; known as Pennsylvania
1681-1682 Frenchman La Salle explores Mississippi river from source to mouth, and founds Louisiana
1700 European settlers exploit the Caribbean
1700 North American colonies begin to prosper
1701 City of Detroit founded in North America by Antoine de Cadillac to control passage between Lakes Erie and Huron
1711 Tuscarora War between settlers and Native Americans in North Carolina
1715 Yamasee nation attacks South Carolina colony, killing hundreds of English settlers
1716 French build fortress, one of the strongest in North America, at Louisbourg in Canada
1717 Spain establishes Viceroyalty of New Granada in South America
1718 City of New Orleans is founded on Mississippi river
1718 Death of William Penn, the Quaker founder of the state of Pennsylvania
1718-1720 Dispute between French and Spanish over territory of Texas; Texas becomes Spanish possession
1726 Spanish found city of Montevideo in Uruguay to stop further Portuguese colonization southwards from Brazil
1727 Coffee first planted in Brazil, by Europeans
1727 First discovery of diamonds in Brazil in Minas Gerais area where gold is already mined
1730 Vitus Bering, Danish explorer employed by Russia, reaches strait between Asia and North America named after him
1735 Libel trial of John Peter Zeuger in New York helps establish freedom of the press in North America
1736 Natural rubber discovered in the humid rain forests of Peru
1736 Academic schools of S'o Paulo and S'o Jos' founded in Brazil by Portuguese Jesuits
1739 Outbreak of War of Jerkins' Ear; Spain and Britain fight for control of North American and Caribbean waters
1739 South Carolina is shaken by slave revolts
1740 Population of the 13 colonies reaches 1.5 million, including 250,000 slaves; Boston and Philadelphia largest cities
1742 Juan Santos takes name Atahualpa II and leads Native Americans of Peru in unsuccessful revolt against Spanish
1745 British force including New England settlers capture French fortress of Louisbourg in Canada
1753 French occupy Ohio valley in North America
1754-1763 Anglo-French war in North America
1759 General James Wolfe defeats French at the Battle of Quebec
1759 Jesuits expelled from Brazil by Portuguese authorities
1760 All Canada passes into British hands
1762 British expedition against Cuba seizes Havana from Spain
1763 Rio de Janeiro becomes capital of Brazil
1763 Pontiac Conspiracy: Native Americans rise against British in North America
1765 Stamp Act imposed on British colonies in Americas
1773 Boston Tea Party: colonists in North America rebel against British taxes
1775 American Revolution breaks out in skirmish at Lexington
1776 US Declaration of Independence (4 July)
1776 Spanish create Viceroyalty of La Plata in South America
1777 Treaty of San Idelfonso defines Spanish and Portuguese possessions in Brazil
1780-1782 Revolt of Tupac Amaru, Inca descendant, in Peru
1781 British Lord Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, ending American Revolution
1783 US independence recognized at Treaty of Paris
1787 US Constitution drawn up
1789 Conspiracy of Tiradentes in Brazil; revolt in Minas Gerais gold mines
1789-1797 George Washington is first president of the United States
1790 Revolt in Haiti against French rule, led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, who for a time runs the country
1791 Canada Act divides Canada into Upper and Lower Canada
1793 Trinidad captured from Spanish in Caribbean
1801 Thomas Jefferson becomes third US president
1803 Louisiana Purchase; United States buys vast tracts of land in Midwest from France
1804-1806 Lewis and Clark's expedition beyond Mississippi
1807 Portugal's John VI flees to Brazil; his son Pedro declares it independent under him in 1822
1808-1809 Rebellions against Spain begin in South America
1810 Hidalgo begins revolts against Spanish rule in Mexico
1812-1814 United States in war with Britain; White House burnt
1816 BolÃvar defeats Spanish in Venezuela; independence confirmed in 1821
1820 The US Missouri Compromise ensures a balance between free and slave states
1821 San Martin wins independence for Peru
1825 BolÃvar founds new state of Bolivia
1828 Uruguay becomes independent
1836 Texas wins independence from Mexico; siege of the Alamo
1838 Trail of Tears; in the United States, thousands of eastern Native Americans are forced to move west, many dying on the way
1840 Upper and Lower Canada are united in self-governing union
1846-1848 US war against Mexico; California and New Mexico ceded to United States
1848 Meeting in Seneca Falls, New York, calls for equal rights for American women
1849 California gold Rush
1850 Jeans invented in California, United States
1850 US Congress compromises over expansion of slavery; fails to resolve tension between states
1850-1889 Remarkable national progress in Brazil under Pedro II
1856 Anti-slavery Republican party formed in United States
1858-1861 Reformer Benito Juarez is Mexican president
1859 John Brown's attempt to start slave revolt alarms whites in southern United States
1861-1865 Civil War in United States; attempt by southern states to secede is defeated
1862 US land given to European immigrants to farm
1862-1890 Last wars against Native Americans in western United States
1863-1867 French invade Mexico and set up Austrian archduke Maximilian as emperor of Mexico
1865 Thirteenth Amendment to US Constitution outlaws slavery
1865-1870 Paraguay attacks neighbouring countries and is almost annihilated
1866-1877 Northern US Republicans force through radical reconstruction of southern states
1867 Britain makes Canada a dominion
1870-1888 Antonio Guzman rules Venezuela; major reforms
1876 In United States, Alexander Bell invents telephone
1877 US inventor Thomas Edison invents the record-player
1876-1911 Rule of President Diaz of Mexico: period of great expansion
1879-1884 The War of the Pacific between Chile, Peru, and Bolivia
1883 Edison invents the light bulb
1885 Canadian Pacific railway opens
1886 American Federation of Labor established
1888 Slaves freed in Brazil
1889 First Pan-American Conference held at Washington
1889 Pedro II deposed by army revolt; Brazil becomes a republic
1891 Civil war in Chile
1898 Spanish-American War; Spain gives Cuba independence, United States takes Puerto Rico, Guam, and Philippines as colonies
1901-1909 Theodore Roosevelt is US president; he works to reform business, railways, child labour, and to conserve natural resources
1903 Panama secedes from Colombia with US backing
1903 Boundary dispute over Alaska between Canada and United States settled
1904 Final settlement between Bolivia and Chile after the War of the Pacific
1904-1909 Presidency of Ismael Montes in Bolivia; period of social and political reforms
1905 Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan formed in Canada
1906 Alaska elects a delegate to US Congress
1906 Cuba occupied by US forces following a liberal revolt
1907 Run on American banks checked by J P Morgan
1908 Henry Ford produces first Model T car
1911 President Diaz of Mexico overthrown
1912 Alaska granted territorial status in United States
1912 Arizona and New Mexico become US states
1912 Secret ballot and universal suffrage introduced in Argentina
1913-1921 Woodrow Wilson is president of United States
1914 Panama Canal opened
1914 Completion of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in Canada
1916-1922 Hipolito Irigoyen elected president of Argentina: extensive reforms
1917 Mexico adopts a new constitution
1917 Brazil declares war on Germany
1917 United States declares war on Germany
1918 Venezuela oilfields opened
1918 US President Wilson puts forward the Fourteen Points for settling World War I
1919-1920 US Congress refuses to recognize League of Nations
1919-1930 Great material progress in Peru during presidency of Augusto LeguÃa
1920-1933 Prohibition against sale of alcohol in United States
1921-1925 Progressive government of President Juan Bautista Saavedra in Bolivia
1922 First portable radio and first car radio made in United States
1926 Panama and United States agree to protect Panama canal in wartime
1929 US Wall Street Stock Exchange crashes; Great Depression follows
1930 Getulio Vargas becomes Brazilian president, and assumes dictatorial powers in 1937
1932 Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes US president
1932-1935 Chaco war between Bolivia and Paraguay
1933 Peruvian president Sanchez Cherro assassinated by an âapristaÂ¾
1933 US âNew DealÂ¾ laws, such as National Industry Recovery Act, promote economic recovery
1935 US Social Security Act - first step in creation of welfare state
1937 US National Labour Relations Act
1938 Mexico takes over US and British oil companies in Mexico
1941 US Congress passes Lend-Lease Act; billions of dollars' worth of military hardware loaned to Allies
1944 First free presidential elections in Guatemala
1945 US scientists build first atomic bomb
1947 In Truman Doctrine US government promises aid to any government resisting Communism
1948-1951 Under Marshall Plan, United States dispenses aid to Europe to help post-war recovery
1949 United States and West European nations set up North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for collective security
1950 Black Americans intensify campaign for civil rights
1955 Army officers seize power from Argentinian president Peron
1962 Cuban missile crisis
1963 US president John F Kennedy assassinated
1963 Thousands march on Washington DC to press for civil rights for black Americans
1964 Military leaders seize power in Brazil
1964 US Civil Rights Act bans racial discrimination in federal funding and employment
1968 Major protests in United States against Vietnam war
1969 US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin land on the moon
1970-1974 Micro-computers developed in United States
1972 US Congress passes Equal Opportunity Act in response to growing women's movement
1973 Elected Chilean president Allende killed in a military coup led by General Pinochet
1973 United States launches space station Skylab 4
1974 US president Nixon resigns after Watergate scandal
1978 Camp David summit between Egypt and Israel hosted by the United States
1979 Sandinistas seize power in Nicaragua
1980-1982 Civil war in El Salvador
1982 Falklands War between Argentina and Britain
1982 Mexico fails to repay foreign loans, provoking international financial crisis
1989 US soldiers invade Panama and depose ruler, General Noriega
1990 Sandinistas defeated in Nicaraguan elections
1993 Palestinian leader Arafat and Israeli prime minister Rabin sign peace agreement in United States
1994 Sports legend, O J Simpson tried for murder. He is acquitted in 1995